Chapter Forty-one

Emery

I barge into Evelyn's library, resulting in me to see her kissing Andrea; with both of her hands cupping onto his face before turning to look at me in surprise.

''Emery! W—what are you doing?'' She stutters.

My eyes wander to look at Andrea, hearing him clear his throat—awkwardly. I try my best to ignore the sudden awkwardness as I head in, closing the distance between us so that I can talk to her; the main reason why I came here, I wouldn't just barge without purpose.

''Evelyn, I need your help. Really need your help,'' I say, pressing both of my hands on the desk. Evelyn looks at me in the eyes; trying to understand what I'm asking for because I rarely ask her for anything.

''What kind of help?'' She raises an eyebrow.

''I need to court Emma,'' I reply; quickly.

Both, Andrea and Evelyn, look at me in confusion. Courting my own wife—that sounds bizarre. It means getting to know someone with the intention of marrying that someone; how am I supposed to court her when she's already mine to begin with? Well, we just have to go through the stages of courting.

''What do you mean court Emma?'' She asks, ''You two are already married. Okay, tell me, what's going on with you two? Why do you need to court her?''

I run my fingers through my brown hair; realising that it's actually overgrowing for the past couple of weeks but I paid no attention. Truth be told, makes it easier for me to just run my fingers through it and style it naturally—I don't think I need a haircut, now.

''This may sound like a waste of time but Emma thinks that it'd be better for us to get to know each other. After the miscarriage, she just thought that we've been going on too fast; this whole marriage. She wants us to take it slow, go through the process, one by one,'' I explain to her, slowly trying to make her understand.

''So, why do you need my help?'' She frowns.

''I've been thinking about what I should do to try and make our process memorable and worthwhile but all that came through my mind were just cliches,'' I shrug, sighing deeply before leaning back on the seat.

I continue, ''I came here to ask you a favour. You're a woman and I'm sure you know a lot of things than any men would know; even if he's an expert. Like, what are the things that you like? More forward, what do women like in men? What do they want?'' I specifically add.

''Emery, let me just say one thing. You want to court Emma because she said that she wanted to take things slow and she felt like she barely knew anything about you in which I think you feel the same? So, hear me out on this one, I can see your effort on getting to know her and yes, women likes that. Believe me, they do. Just, go ahead and follow your instinct. She's your wife, your girl so you only have to trust yourself. If you think that she'll like it if you surprise her with the cheesiest things then go ahead, no one is stopping you. Do it,'' Andrea says, leaving me speechless at his words. He has never been the type to advise me; well, we haven't been talking much which explains quite a lot.

Evelyn ends up glancing at my direction, her eyes widening in surprise as her brows furrow in confusion. The way she looks at me and back again at Andrea, it shows how he does not expect him that way.

I can't help but think about something simple. An outdoor picnic, perhaps; not really taking her out on a fancy first date because that seems too much. We're trying to get to know each other and not just impressing one another so of course, simplicity is better.

Emma's not the type to demand either, she's a total sweetheart—no one can be able to replace her and that's a true fact. I really hope that she feels the same about me because even if we've said we love each other, where does that love stands? I want to know.

All of a sudden, I find myself staring at Emma from behind as she stands near mother's garden. The way her brown hair falls loosely down her back; it attracts me. Her beauty will never fail to fascinate me even if she shows all of her flaws because god, damn.

''I know that you're staring,'' She says before turning to look at me; her lips curving up into a small smile.

''You caught me,'' I reply before walking towards her.

Emma continues to smile, ''Easily,'' She mutters.

''I came here to ask you out on a date,'' I begin, seeing that her facial expressions are changing, ''Maybe, if you're interested to go on a picnic?'' I add, slowly.

''I'd like that,'' She replies, her smile never fading. Yes, a first date is a great step. We'll be able to talk, about the things that we weren't able to talk about before. We've been too caught up in our own romance that we've forgotten that we should know ourselves.

''Actually, how about now?'' I ask, instantly making her laugh at me as I pull onto her hand; running down the hall without thinking of anything else. She won't stop laughing and I can't help but smile at her chuckles.

We push the door open through the backyard, without us realising that we're actually causing a lot of noise. I, quickly pull her as we continue to run; the gardeners are staring at us in surprise before smiling at our childish behaviour yet we pay no attention.

I turn to look at Emma and to my surprise, I find her actually looking very happy. It has been awhile since I've seen her this way; which cheers me up. The way her lips are curving widely into a smile, she's just genuinely happy about this—it's all proven.

Just like that, I begin to stop walking once I've caught the sight of the well arranged picnic date. Since it's pretty much sunny outside and a little bit of windy, it's a perfect day for a picnic. I turn to look at her, seeing that she's eyeing the red and white checkered tablecloth on the grass before looking up at me.

''Come on,'' I mutter as I pull her slowly, heading there. Once we're close enough, we start to sit down and it doesn't take me long to look up at her; seeing that the sunlight is nicely hitting her face which reveals light freckles on her cheeks that has been almost invisible most of the time. She doesn't seem to realise.

Realise that I'm captivated.

Then, all of a sudden, she smiles at me.

''Why are you looking at me like that?'' She asks, raising an eyebrow before tilting her head to the side, slightly

''Why are you looking at me like that?'' She asks, raising an eyebrow before tilting her head to the side, slightly. I, on the other hand, is left speechless due to the fact that she caught me staring at her. Twice, today.

''Like what?'' I end up asking her back.

''Like that,'' She points at my face, quickly chuckling afterwards before laying flat on the ground; with a biscuit in her hand as she stares up at the blue sky.

With her loosely buttoned grey shirt and jeans, it doesn't really matter what she wears because at the end of the day, I'll still find her attractive. She has always been attractive, especially when I walked in the room, when we first met. Even from behind, she's perfect.

I end up laying beside her, only looking up at the sky. We're both enjoying the sun as the wind blows onto our skin, making her close her eyes which causes me to turn and look at her—seeing that she's still smiling.

Without me realising, I'm already smiling, too. The way she's just enjoying this is quite cute. At least, I've found something that would make her this happy.

''How'd you know that I like picnics?'' She asks.

''I didn't. I just thought of it,'' I reply, continuing to look at her even though she still has her eyes closed.

''You sure?'' She peeks before turning her head to face me, our eyes are pierced into one another. I feel so close to her even though I know that we're still trying; just differently, this time, ''What's your favourite colour?''

''That's bloody random,'' I chuckle.

''Well, we're random. So, tell me. Is it brown? Green? Blue? Purple? No, wait, black?'' She leans closer, trying to tease me and pressuring me to answer.

I keep quiet for a few seconds, only thinking of the colour I fond most; which is pretty hard. I've been fine with almost any colour and now her question is just making me think of the only colour I like.

''Pink,'' I mutter under my breath, almost inaudible.

To my surprise, she starts to laugh. Her laugh grows louder within each second which I can't help but laugh with her but all of a sudden, she stops, ''You serious?''

''Does it look like I'm making a joke?'' I frown.

''No, it's just that—you don't look like someone who likes the colour pink. I mean,'' She chuckles again.

''Enlighten me, then. How do people who likes pink look like?'' Without both of us realising, we're already close enough to each other; but, we don't bother.

''I don't know, girly?'' She raises an eyebrow before continuing to laugh again in which I am left, blushing in embarrassment yet honestly, it doesn't bother me much. The way she just laughs loudly without a single care in the world, that's something new.

''Are you blushing? Oh my lord,'' She laughs.

''No, I'm not!'' I end up trying to cover her mouth but when I do so, she just keeps on teasing me.

''What's your favourite colour, then?'' I ask, trying to know about her favourite colour, too. It can probably be much worse than mine—in which I can tease her back but I'm pretty sure I can't even do that.

She ends up leaning closer before whispering, ''Pink,'' Then, she continues to laugh again; making me roll my eyes in annoyance but truth be told, it's adorable.

This kind of behaviour in this situation shows how we're close enough to be making silly jokes, laughing without a single care in the world, just teasing one another. This is the kind of relationship that I'd want us to have.

''It's not pink, is it?'' I ask, my voice low.

She turns to face me with a smile, ''It's brown,''

''Like poop brown?'' I end up laughing in which she joins me, realising that both of our favourite colours are just plain shitty. It has been awhile since the two of us have laughed this much, I missed it.

''You're such a teaser,'' She pokes onto my arm.

''Eh, you're not so bad yourself,'' I smile at her; eyeing her from the side. Within seconds, she is already turning to look at me—our eyes are deeply gazing.

Then, that's when it hits me. Having the most beautiful woman in the world as my wife, I'm more than lucky. This is all like winning a lottery—damn, I don't even know if that's even the right way to describe it.

She describes it perfectly; the way that she is, it's my kind of girl. The kind that I've always longed to have. Yes, it took me awhile to realise but now that I have, it's all too much to process. I'm speechless.

Just like that, I find my lips meeting hers, in which she responds back without rejecting. It's a slow kiss, the kind of kiss that happens for the first time. The kind of kiss that shows the true feelings instead of trying to impress someone by giving them the best kiss of their lives. The kind of kiss that doesn't include lust.

We end up breaking the kiss which lasted shortly. I open my eyes to see that she still has both of hers closed. The way that she is and always be mine sounds impossible but here we are—I've fallen deeply in love with the woman from across the world, the woman that I had no intention of marrying in the first place. This woman.

''I think we've skipped the two stages,'' I breathe.

She chuckles before sitting up straight.

Then, all of a sudden, we start to realise that it's starting to rain—heavily, even. Emma and I run back towards the garden, wanting to find a roof that'll be able to avoid ourselves from getting bloody wet. As for Emma, she finds all of this interesting as she pulls onto my hand; laughing as she does so.

To my surprise, the sprinklers are turned on without us realising; leaving her yelp in surprise before entering the palace again—seeing a surprised, Evelyn.

''Oh, better wash up. Together, I mean. Saves up time and water,'' She teases before leaving the room.

Emma and I end up looking at each other, only laughing as we do so, then, she starts to walk up the stairs; leaving me all by myself with my clothes dripping with water, thinking of what had happened.

I've just fallen in love all over again.